After spending two weeks in Milford Haven, I am on the move again.
Ffion went home yesterday and I moved the boat to Dale anchorage in the evening. I plan to set off this morning on a 24 hour sail to St Ives, the winds look good but then should drop off in the following few days. I will make the choice at St Ives to either wait for better wind or, more likely, motor around Lands End.
Whatever I do, I will be out of contact for at least 24 hours.
We left Milford Haven and had a great sail with good winds and moderate seas to Lundy and then on to Padstow. That’s the good news… the bad news is that Ffion was seasick the whole time and when we arrived in Padstow the anchorage near the lifeboat station was very bumpy. Things got worse when the wind shifted to North Easterly and the waves in the anchorage got worse.
There was no way we could stay there overnight, especially with Ffion so unwell and there were no local safe harbours accessible at low tide, especially in that swell. There was no choice, we had to move and as we had decided Ffion would go home, Milford was the best option .
To make things worse, the anchor snagged, I shredded the skin on my thumb trying to free it and the anchor bent in the process; It’s still usable though (anchor and thumb). While raising the sails in the now 20 knot winds, the genoa (the front sail) was flogging in the wind for a while and that has shown weaknesses in its sacrificial strip (also known as a UV strip because it is exposes to sunlight when the sail is furled) it has shredded in a few places.
As it was 9pm and it was a 24 hour sail against a North East wind back to Milford, we sailed North West into the Celtic Sea away from land during the night and tacked back North East the next day. It took 26 hours in the end so we were exhausted and more or less went straight to sleep.
This morning I had a good look at the genoa and it looks sound except the sacrificial strip which has done its job by absorbing uv sunrays and become brittle. I have spoken to a sailmaker in nearby Neyland who has given a rough price of £350 to replace this strip so tomorrow I hope to get a taxi over with the sail. He may not be able to work on it till later next week so I will be here at least a week.
Ffion will stay here with me, at least for a few days and will then go home, alas she is not a good sailor due to seasickness. I will then cross the Bristol Channel (again) and continue in to Southmpton arriving a little later than planned.
I will be looking for a crew member to help with the sail from Southampton to the Mediterranean if anyone is interested and can spare a couple of months.
The sail from Fishguard past St David’s head outside Ramsey went very well with good winds and tides. After Ramsey the wind meant a more Southerly tack than I would have liked but we had plenty of time before a storm was due that night…. Mother nature had other ideas though.
The winds picked up while we were a little over and hour away from safe anchorage at Dale in Milford Haven and within 10 minutes I had to take down the already reefed sails and switch to motor due to strong headwinds from the direction we needed to go. Speed over ground dropped to a couple of knots and what was due to take an hour, took three.
I was shivering and soaked after dropping anchor and the anchorage was bumpy for the next 24 hours. But we were safe and best of all, crew were not sick… CREW?!! I hear you ask? Well, I guess it’s time to tell you Ffion has been with me since we left Aberystwyth 😃.
About 4 weeks ago, Ffion asked if she could come with me if she could overcome her seasickness, at least until Southampton. She was ill for most of the Aberystwyth to Fishguard leg but recovered quickly and was only sick once on the next leg during the storm. This is a very good sign that although she will get sick, she can also get over it quickly.
We have spent just under a week at Milford Haven marina for reasons Ffion will explain in her blog. Yesterday we sailed to Lundy in the middle of the Bristol Channel and today we are going as far as we can toward Cornwall.
Right then, where do I begin. Well since my last blog we have been quite busy.
Lady Cindy was lifted out of the water so that John and I could do some work on the bottom of the boat.
We went for a walk on Aberystwyth pier head and decided to take some pictures. There were quite a few takes but these were the best ones 🙂
The house move is slowly getting closer, my room is fully packed and ready to go. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor isn’t too bad.
We’ve had some guests aboard which has been lovely because it has allowed me to spend time with my friends and we have also had good times with friends ashore having barbecues and going bowling.
It has been lovely to be ashore for sometime spending time with family and friends.
While all of this and more has been going on, I’ve been doing some planning and thinking about the surprise.
For a while I’ve been debating whether or not to carry on with John on his journey and I’ve had a lot to think about like my family, friends and my animals.
With John mentioning more and more often about finding crew, I decided to give it a go before I lost the opportunity.
So yes, I have been aboard Lady Cindy with John and Dotty for a while now and we’ve found out that I can get over my seasickness by sleeping. For everyone who knows me, they know I really like my sleep and I’m really good at it. Haha 😂
I still don’t know how far I’ll get but we’re taking it day by day and we’ll just see how it goes.
My brother, sister in law and their children came over to my parents house to see John and myself before we left for Southampton and we had a Chinese takeaway and some drinks which was a lovely time.
I needed to go back home for a bit due to needing to find a new home for my boa constrictor but I’m happy to say that I have found him a new home with someone experienced with big snakes.
I also needed to go back to see my dog who has been unwell recently but he is doing good and is still happy and comfortable 🙂
This is only some of the things that’s been going on recently so I might write another blog with more of the things that’s been happening but that’s all for now 🙂
Yesterday morning we slipped the mooring lines and set sail for the South and warm weather. This has been after two years of planning and preparation.
The sailing was almost perfect for the wind strength and direction but the sea swell did build throughout the day so I decided to stop at Fishguard overnight rather than chance adverse currents around St David’s Head at night. The anchorage has been a bit rolly overnight but is improving slowly. I will stay here another night because winds will drop to near zero later this evening.
All systems on the boat worked well, I need to secure a few things better that fell over during the sail and a few other minor and easy jobs.
The last few weeks have been spent doing the last few jobs getting ready to head South for the summer, it’s not all work though, we have done fun stuff as well; I have finished working at Tescos. At the moment I am waiting for a few storms to blow through before sailing to Southampton and then on to the Mediterranean.
The original plan was to leave the marina, sail to New Quay to anchor a day or two and then sail down to Southampton. Strong Northerly winds put paid to that so we changed it to a day sail with Carys and Ffion to New Quay and back. The trip down was done under motor in mist and no wind but by the afternoon the winds arrived giving a great sail. It was a good test of systems not used for a few months and gave me a few jobs to work on the following couple of days.
At the moment, it’s looking like the weather will improve toward the end of this week. If it does give a few days window, I will get to Milford Haven via Fishguard.
I have been over Wintering at Aberystwyth marina for the last six months and before that using it to shelter from strong northerlies when anchored at New Quay.
The marina is the only suitable all weather shelter for deep keel boats between Milford Haven and Pwllheli. Nearby anchorages for deep keels are Fishguard (exposed to the East) and New Quay (exposed to the North). The harbour and entrance can be tricky with silted up sides; my 1.8m yacht can only get in 1.5 – 2 hours either side of the high tide. The entrance should not be attempted when big waves are coming in from the North. Care should be taken around the rocks either side of the entrance.
Part of The Marine Group, it has a fuel Dock, on pontoon water and electricity, a marina office and a toilet/shower block with laundry facilities. There are liftout and yard services. The showers are clean, spacious and powerful. A couple of times I found the hot water ran out but that was rare.
Local shops, the railway station, beach promenade, pier, Tescos, Matalan, pets at home, Iceland, takeaways etc. Are all a short walk away.
The marina is badly silted so most deeper boats such as mine touch bottom at low tides, I understand there are plans to do some water blast dredging in the near future to improve this.
Staff here are excellent. There is a pleasant and friendly atmosphere to the place. Some of the staff are ‘retired’ but still help out.
There has been a recent change in management and there are some big plans announced by the Council for the Marina, I hope the marina keeps its character through these changes. My preference would be for the Council to get the basics right first by properly dredging the channel and dumping the spoil out at sea. Currently they use diggers and dumper trucks to move it from one point in the harbour to another. Mother nature just moves it back in the next storm.
Lady Cindy has spent the last two weeks out of the water to have her bottom cleaned; we all need one of those.
No issues were found with the hull, so we rubbed her down and applied new anti foul. The blue section got polish and a touch-up wherever the gel coat was damaged. All the through-hulls were checked and serviced.
The next time she is lifted, I want to rub down, fair, and repaint the blue as well as re align the white boot line because its a little high at the bow and low at the stern.
Ffion and I have had a great time when not working; we have been taking the dogs to training (Dotty watched), had days out with friends, and generally enjoyed life.
We have a very busy week ahead with plans ashore as well as preparing to leave Aberystwyth Marina next week. We hope to sail down to New Quay to anchor for a short while before heading south to Southampton.
Note that the title is managing, not preventing! Dampness is an inevitable fact of living above a large body of water out in the open so water can come in from any direction. Add to that the moisture in the air from evaporation of bilge water and from your breath, there are many sources of water and not all can be prevented.
This article lists many of the water sources but focuses on the most difficult to manage, air borne moisture.
Rain water and sea spray can enter from deck fittings, window and hatch seals, the anchor hauser pipe, the mast, shroud chain plates, cockpit drains, etc. Almost all of these are preventable with a bit of sealant and maintenance.
Sources include the prop shaft, through hulls, transducers, osmosis, and cracks or holes in the hull. All can be sealed/repaired, but these usually require the boat to be out of the water.
Unless you stop breathing, completely seal your bilges, and only sail off the sahara coast, this one can not be prevented; it has to be controlled and directed.
Warm damp air rises; it is less dense than dry air. When this air hits a cold surface, the moisture condenses on that surface, forming drops of water. We have some control over which surfaces are coldest and can often direct that water down to the bilge. An efficient automatic bilge pump can remove nearly all of that water.
Managing which surfaces are cold, and therefore where the water forms needs a combination of ventilation and insulation to prevent moisture condensing where you dont want it and have cold surfaces in places where you can direct the water drops into the bilge; its important to think about how the air will flow in the space to ensure the damp air passes over the cold surface. If you can get this right, you can create a dehumidifier using the hull or cabin top as a condenser.
On Lady Cindy, I have four spaces: the forward V berth, the heads, the saloon, and the engine compartment. Of these, I am only concerned about managing airborne moisture in the V berth and the saloon.
The V berth was the priority as I had made it my sleeping cabin, and it had no insulation apart from a couple of side panels; the roof was plain fibreglass so got cold, especially at night. My breath overnight resulted in a dripping cabin roof and wet hull surface in the morning, soaking my bedding.
After lowering the bed by six inches to gain headroom and widen the bed, the old side panels no longer fitted. New ones were made from ply, and the fronts covered with foam backed headlining and backs with foil covered bubble wrap. The hull behind the panel was covered with the same foil covered bubblewrap. The insulation is designed and marketed to insulate garage doors. There is now an air gap between the hull and the panel where any water vapour can condense and run down to the bilge, very little does as although not sealed, little air can flow into the space.
The bubble wrap insulation has also been placed against the hull at the back of all lockers in the V berth, heads and saloon to prevent moisture condensing there, each space still has a cold uninsulated locker where most of the moisture can condense and drain to the bilge. This has been partially successful. I am having to double the insulation on some lockers to improve things.
The roof was more complex; I covered it with the same foam backed headlining, but I had to ensure damp air did not gather here but instead flowed forward to the chain and sail locker at the bow to condense on its cold surfaces or through to the saloon and managed there. Which direction the air goes depends on wind direction outside as this determines the direction of air flow through the cabin. There are four external air vents on the boat: Anchor hawse pipe, V berth roof, heads roof, saloon roof, and cockpit door. There is a gap above a panel separating the V berth from the bow anchor locker for air to flow between those areas. I also installed a small 12v fan so air can be moved even if there is no wind outside.
As I am not prepared to replace all of these with double glazed units, I have to accept water drops will form here and drip down. I wipe them daily and ensure there is nothing below them that could suffer water damage. Keeping the boat warm and ventilated is the only solution, but I do have a small 12v dehumidifier which helps a little.
No, that would be impossible, but my bedding is dry, stuff in my lockers no longer feel damp, and black mould is no longer an issue in my living areas. I would call that a success.
Last year I installed Lithium batteries from Sterling Power onto Lady Cindy. This is how I did it and a summary of how the system is working out in real usage.
Lead acid batteries traditionally used in boats suffer from a major problem over time… sulphation. This reduces their life span and their capacity. They can also degrade if they are discharged below 50% capacity, they drop voltage as they discharge which means you should only use about half the power stored in them, and they take a long time to charge from 80% to full capacity.
Lithium batteries can be discharged to near zero and maintain a steady voltage throughout the discharge cycle. Most come with built-in battery management systems that optimise the charging and monitor cell performance. Often, they provide remote monitoring via Bluetooth. Lithium is far lighter than lead, so although they are similarly sized, they are easier to manipulate and can be installed on their side, which gives more install location options.
There are issues with lithium, too; they are very expensive and can not be used in the same bank as lead batteries as they have different charge and discharge characteristics. The established view is that you cannot mix lithium and lead and must throw away perfectly good lead leisure batteries to install Lithium… BUT THIS IS WRONG. I have done it with minimal rewiring, but a special charger is needed.
The secret is to have separate battery banks, and the lithium is added as a new bank isolated from the existing lead bank by a battery to battery charger. I chose UK based Sterling Power for both my batteries and my charger after speaking to their technical team to confirm their product could do what I needed. That was to charge the lithium side when the lead side was over 12v (charging or charged) and isolated the lithium when the lead side was less than 12v (discharged below 50%).
All house loads such as lights, fridge, instruments, etc. were moved from the lead leisure battery to the lithium bank. Charging sources (wind, solar, alternator, mains) remain on the lead side, so they are unchanged. The separate lead starter battery and its charging sources are also unchanged.
When there is an active charging source on the lead side, not only are the lead batteries charged, the Sterling charger takes some of this power, regulates the voltage and controls the current to charge the lithium bank.
When the charging sources disappear, the lead battery provides power to charge the lithium until the lead side drops below 12v (50% discharged). When this happens, the Sterling charger isolates the lithium bank, which continues to provide power to the house loads.
Yes, and better than I hoped. I used to have 2 x 120ah lead leisure batteries that I could use half of (120ah usable power). Adding 2 x 110ah Lithium batteries could have given a total of 340ah of power. In practice, I decided to reduce weight at the aft end (where the lead leisure batteries are located) by removing one of these batteries. So, currently, I have 280ah usable power, and that power is always at a stable voltage. The only negative is that there is a cooling fan on the charger that is noticeable but not loud when it kicks in, so think more carefully than I did as to where to locate this.
I am very happy with the power I have now. I live aboard Lady Cindy and have never run out of power. I charge when I am in a marina, when there is daylight or wind, or when I run the engine. I have a 240v inverter aboard to run various electronic device chargers, and an xbox and have run that for 4 hours before getting to 25% charge and turned it off, so I had power for lights in the evening. The next day was sunny, and I was back to nearly 100 % charge on everything at the end of the day.
Lady Cindy’s starter battery was installed under the starboard side saloon berth/seat. The two leisure batteries midship under the floor in the galley area. When I rewired the boat, chargers, loads, inverter, and isolation switches were all moved to a locker under the port side map table. This was my start position for the installation.
The lithium batteries and their charger were installed under the port side saloon seat/berth. And charger wired through to the leisure batteries. As all loads were on a single terminal under the map table, it was a simple job to switch the terminal input from the lead leisure battery bank to the new lithium bank. You may have a more untidy setup with lots of loads directly onto your leisure batteries. In this case, put a new terminal near these batteries, move all loads to the new terminal, and then a heavy gauge wire from there to the new lithium battery bank.
Negative terminals of all loads should go to the negative post of the lithium bank. The negative side of all banks and all charging sources should be connected together by a heavy gauge wire.
Although the original design idea was to be able to install Lithium alongside lead and the battery to battery charger allows that, there is another plus from that charger in that it protects the lithium from any excessive voltages that a charge source such as an alternator may generate. This is a useful function even when the lead battery reaches the end of its life and is removed. Any new batteries in the future will be lithium and added to the existing lithium bank.